MIA locked in legal battle over 2012 Super Bowl middle finger flip

It has been revealed that MIA has been locked in a $1.5 million (£900,000) legal dispute for the past 18 months, following her 2012 half-time performance at the Super Bowl XLVI.

At the half-time show, during which the singer performed alongside Madonna and Nicki Minaj, MIA was seen to give the camera the middle finger midway through ‘Give Me All Your Luvin’ while mouthing “I don’t give a shit”.

Despite seemingly little repercussions emerging from the event, The Hollywood Reporter has uncovered that the NFL have, in fact, been plotting legal action against MIA to the tune of $1.5 million (£900,000). On March 13 2012, a month after the incident, the league initiated legal proceedings, demanding the reimbursement sum for breach of contract and tarnishing its reputation.

In the interim period, the two camps have been locked in battle, with the league’s legal team still continuing to push for damages. However, MIA’s lawyer Howard King has stated that the singer is soon to go public abut the ongoing battle. “She is going to go public with an explanation of how ridiculous it was for the NFL and its fans to devote such furore to this incident, while ignoring the genocide occurring in her home country and several other countries, topics she frequently speaks to,” King said, before also informing the magazine that the singer (real name Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam) had hoped to settle the case privately.

King continued: “Of course, the NFL’s claimed reputation for wholesomeness is hilarious. In light of the weekly felonies committed by its stars, the bounties placed by coaches on opposing players, the homophobic and racist comments uttered by its players, the complete disregard for the health of players and the premature deaths that have resulted from same, and the raping of public entities ready to sacrifice public funds to attract teams.”

The league’s claim, meanwhile, states that “this dispute concerns a blatant, intentional and calculated attempt by M.I.A., a musical artist, to garner worldwide publicity and attention for herself by making an offensive gesture to the cameras during the Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show performance.”

MIA also recently made her UK live return at Bestival this month, playing a hit-heavy set to open the festival on Thursday night. As well as bringing out the more established likes of ‘Paper Planes’, ‘Bucky Done Gun’ and ‘Bad Girls’, the singer also debuted tracks from he long-awaited forthcoming record ‘Matangi’ – which will finally be released on November 5 after numerous delays.